Most child restraint systems, commonly referred to as car seats, include an integrally-formed shell member which provides a seat bottom and seat back. To provide an ability to tilt such child restraint systems, either to more closely fit the tilted nature of the motor vehicle seat or to place the child in an orientation which is more conducive to sleep, it is typical to provide a pivotable brace extending from the bottom of the shell of the child restraint system. The brace can be pivoted so as to raise the front end of the shell and thus effectively tilt the entire child restraint system. Most child restraint systems do not provide for pivoting between the seat bottom and seat back of the child restraint system.
A few designs, however, do provide for such pivoting. One design has a pivotable connection between the seat bottom and the seat back which is primarily provided to allow the seat back to be pivoted backward into a position where the back of the seat back rests against the bottom of the seat bottom in order to entirely collapse the child restraint system for easy carriage of the restraint system on and off commercial aircraft. In that design, only a limited amount of forward pivoting is available (which is provided primarily to meet safety standards for child restrain systems in aircraft). In addition, there is no provision to lock the seat back in any particular pivotable position relative to the seat bottom. Instead, the seat back can naturally assume the given tilt angle of the aircraft seat.
Another design does provide for pivotable movement between the seat bottom and seat back of a child restraint system. In that design, a pivotable hinged connection is supplemented with a threaded bolt and clamping nut which are received in an arcuate slot formed at the bottom end of the seat back. Thus, the clamping nut can be tightened to hold the seat back at any of the pivotable positions relative to the seat bottom as permitted by the arcuate slot. This design has the obvious disadvantage that the bolt and clamping nut arrangement are not convenient to use and may be subject to slippage if not tightened properly, since it is a frictional force which holds the seat back in position.
Many child restraint systems are designed to operate in either of two modes. In a first mode, for younger children, the seat belt of the motor vehicle is threaded through a portion of the child restraint system and secured to the motor vehicle. Child restraint belts within the child restraint system are provided to restrain the child therein. Typically, such arrangements are either three-point or five-point attachment systems. In a second mode, for older children, the child restraint belts of the child restraint system are not employed, and the seat belts of the motor vehicle are extended across the front of the occupant of the child restraint system to hold the child and the child restraint system in place.
Such systems present several issues. First, in the first mode described above, the child restraint belts of the child restraint system are typically manually adjusted to provide for the proper belt length depending on the size of the child. As the child grows, or as different children use the same child restraint system, it is necessary to readjust the length of the belts. This is typically performed by manipulating belts and buckles on the back of the child restraint system. Another difficulty presented by many designs is that it is difficult to thread the motor vehicle seat belt through the back, bottom, or inner passageways of the child restraint system.
Another issue relating to such child restraint systems is the positioning of the motor vehicle's shoulder belt in the second mode described above. Optimally, the shoulder belt crosses the occupant of the seat at a central point between the tip of the shoulder and the neck of the occupant. Higher positions are too close to the neck for safety concerns while lower positions are too low and do not sufficiently restrain the upper body of the occupant.
Another issue with most child restraint systems is comfort. Typically, the child restraint system is formed and conformed in a shape which at least partially surrounds the body of the occupant. While this may be preferred from a safety perspective, it decreases the amount of fresh air which flows across and surrounds the occupant. For this reason, child restraint systems are often hot, stuffy, and uncomfortable to the occupant.
Lastly, occupants and owners of child restraint systems have need to store books, play things, etc. nearby the child restraint system for the amusement and entertainment of the occupant. In addition, it is desirable from time to time to provide a secure device for holding a container of a beverage which the occupant may be consuming.
It is against this background and the desire to solve the problems of the prior art that the present invention has been developed.